Transfer apparatus for rod-shaped articles



United States Patent 3,521,513 TRANSFER APPARATUS FOR ROD-SHAPED ARTICLES Jiirgeu Giimann and Wolfgang Grimm, Hamburg, Germany, assignors to Hauni-Werke Korber & Co. K.G., Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany Filed Oct. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 771,915 Claims priority, application Germany, Nov. 9, 1967,

32,213 Int. Cl. B2611 1/56 U.S. Cl. 83310 18 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A transfer mechanism for cigarettes or filter rod sec tions wherein a first rotary support carries several equidistant holders for cigarettes or filter rod sections. Each holder is rotatable with reference to the support by a crank drive which holds it against a change in orientation during orbital movement about the axis of the support. Each crank drive comprises two crank pins which are rigid .with a crank arm and one of which is rigid with the corresponding holder. The other crank pin is turnable in a second support rotating about an axis which is parallel to the axis of the first support.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in mechanisms which can be utilized for transfer of rod-shaped articles, particularly for transport of filter rods, wrapped tobacco filler rods, filter rod sections and/or plain or filter cigarettes or the like. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in transfer mechanisms wherein the conveyed articles are held against a change in orientation during orbital movement along a relatively short or longer arcuate path. Such mechanisms can be employed to support and guide a continuous rod-like filler of fibrous material during subdivision into sections of unit length or multiple unit length; alternatively, it may comprise two conveyors one of which transports rodshaped articles lengthwise and the other of which transports such articles sideways, and a system of holders which transport the articles between the conveyors.

In heretofore known transfer mechanisms of the above outlined character, several holders or sockets for rodshaped articles orbit about a fixed axis and the means for preventing changes in orientation of holders during orbital movement comprises a planetary transmission whose planet pinions are connected with the holders. Reference may be had to the copending application Ser. No. 688,- 043 of Gomann et al., now Pat. No. 3,479,913, which is assigned to the same assignee.

A drawback of planetary transmissions is that they comprise a large number of costly and complicated parts and that the wear on their teeth is quite pronounced so that the accuracy of transfer mechanisms embodying such transmissions is reduced after relatively short periods of use. The wear is especially pronounced when the transfer mechanism is used for transport of cigarettes at the rate at which they issue from a modern high-speed rod cigarette machine. Additional problems arise due to generation of excessive noise and excessive vibrations which develop when the holders of a transfer mechanism are held against a change in orientation by the components of a planetary transmission.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of our invention is to provide a transfer mechanism which need not utilize a planetary transmission and wherein the holder or holders for rod- 3,521,513 Patented July 21, 1970 shaped articles are held against a change in orientation by simple, compact, long-lasting and relatively inexpensive parts which can stand long periods of use without unduly affecting the accuracy of operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a transfer mechanism of the just outlined character which can be utilized in or in combination with cutoffs in rod cigarette machines or filter rod machines, or as a means for changing the direction of travel and the distribution of a continuous or discontinuous supply of rod-shaped articles, for example, by converting a file of articles which move lengthwise into one or more rows of articles which move sideways or vice versa.

A further object of the invention is to provide a transfer mechanism which can treat cigarettes or like deformable rod-shaped articles gently, without smudging, either in suspended position or while the articles are supported from below, and which can be operated at any one of several speeds to insure proper synchronization with the operation of machines or parts of machines which supply rod-shaped articles to the holders or which receive articles from such holders.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a transfer mechanism which produces less noise and less pronounced vibrations than heretofore known transfer mechanisms, particularly those which employ planetary transmissions.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a transfer mechanism which occupies little room in or adjacent to a rod cigarette or filter cigarette machine, which can be used to transport articles along shorter or longer paths, which can transport with equal facility articles of short, medium or considerable length, and whose holders can transport one or more articles at a time.

The invention is embodied in a transfer mechanism for cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which comprises holder means (e.g. a channeled member or a member which can attract articles by suction) adapted to carry articles along a predetermined arcuate path, support means (for example, a disk) for orbiting the holder means about a first axis with the holder means turnable relative to the support means about a second axis which is preferably parallel to the first axis, and a crank drive for turning the holder means about the second axis to preserve the orientation of an article in such holder means while the latter orbits about the first axis.

The crank drive preferably comprises a first portion which is rigid with the holder means and is rotatable about the second axis and a second portion which is offset with reference to the first portion and is rotatable in a second support means whose axis of rotation is parallel to the axis of the first support means. The distance between the axes of the first and second support means preferably equals the distance between the axes of the first and second portions of the crank drive. One of the support means can be rotated at one of several speeds and the crank drive then serves to rotate the other support means.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved transfer mechanism itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a transfer mechanism which forms part of a cutoff in a rod cigarette machine;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view as seen in the direction of arrows from the line II-II of FIG. 1;

3 FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a second transfer mechanism whose holder means are utilized to transport rod-shaped articles between two conveyors; and

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view as seen in the direction of arrows from the line IV-IV of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The transfer mechanism of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a first disk-shaped support 1 which is rotatable about an axis 24 and is connected with a flange 4 by means of screws 2. The flange 4 has a shaft 3 whose axis coincides with the axis 24 and which is rotatable in a bearing 6 affixed to a frame member 7 in a rod cigarette machine. In FIG. 1, the frame member 7 and the bearing 6 are omitted to reveal some of eight equidistant holders or sockets including the holders 8a, 8b, 8e, 8 8g, 811 each of which is adapted to carry a rod-shaped article 31a. Such articles constitute plain cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length and are obtained in response to severing of a continuous wrapped rod-like tobacco filler 31. Two of the holders (namely, those which would be numbered 80 and 8d) are not shown in FIG. 1 in order to reveal certain parts of corresponding crank drives which serve to rotate the holders with reference to the support 1 while the support is caused to rotate about the axis 24 to thereby orbit the holders 852-8h along an arcuate path whose center is located on the axis 24-. The axes about which the holders are turnable with reference to the support 1 are parallel to and are located at the same distance from the axis 24; and such axes are equidistant from each other. Two of these axes are shown in FIG. 2, as at 27a and 27e. Each of the holders 8a8h is rotatable in one or more sets of antifriction bearings provided therefor in the support 1; the bearings 11a and 11e for the holders 8a, 8e are shown in FIG. 2. The crank drive for the holder 8a comprises a first crank pin 9a which is rigid with this holder and whose axis coincides with the axis 27a, a second crank pin 13a which is parallel to the crank pin 9a and whose axis is shown at 28a, and a crank arm or web 12a which is rigid with the crank pins 9a and 13a. The crank pin 13a is rotatable in antifriction bearings 14a provided therefor in a second diskshaped support 16 which is rotatable about a fixed axis 26. The distance between the axes 24, 26 or 24, 27a is the same as the distance between the axes 27a, 28a or 26, 28a The crank drives for the remaining holders Sb-Sh are identical with the crank drive for the holder 8a and their parts are denoted. by similar reference characters. Thus, the crank drive for the holder 8e comprises two crank pins 96, 13c and a crank arm or web 12e; the pins 9e, 13a are respectively turnable about axes 27c, 28e. Each crank arm comprises two halves which are held together by screws 15 or analogous fasteners. For example, a screw numbered 15a clamps the end portions of the two halves of the crank arm 12 against the crank pins 9 and 13a.

The second support 16 is affixed to a flange 17 which carries a shaft 18 rotatable in a bearing 19 about the aforementioned axis 26. The bearing 19 is bolted to a second frame member 21 of the rod cigarette machine.

The means for rotating the support 16 comprises a gear 22 which is aflixed to the shaft 18 and a toothed belt '23 which is trained over the gear 22 and derives motion from the main drive of the rod cigarette machine so that the support 16 rotates at a predetermined speed in synchronism with movements of certain other parts of the machine. The support 1 is driven by the support 16 by way of the crank drives for its holders 8a8h. However, it is equally possible to drive the shaft 3 so that the support 16 is then rotated in response to rotation of the support 1.

Each of the holders or sockets 8a-8h has a horizontal channel (see the channels 29a, 29:; of the holders 8a, 8e shown in FIG. 2) and each such channel is open at the top and at both axial ends. A feed which is shown mainly in FIG. 1 serves to move the wrapped continuous rodshaped filler 31 lengthwise at a speed which corresponds to the speed of the topmost holder, i.e., to that of the holder 8a in FIG. 1. The support 1 rotates in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, and its holders move seriatim toward and away from a severing station which accommodates a rotary knife 37. When the holder 8a moves toward the position shown in FIG. 1, the leading end of the filler 31 enters its channel 29a from above and rests on the surface in the bottom zone of this channel when the holder 8a reaches its uppermost position. The knife 37 is driven at such a speed that its cutting edge 37a severs the filler 31 at the exact moment when the holder 8a is in or very close to its upper end position. As shown in FIG. 2, the outer edge 32a of the holder 8a is located at a level below the inner edge 33a, and the same holds true for the remaining holders 8b- 8/1 (see, for example, the edges 32c, 33E of the holder Se in FIG. 2). Each holder is further provided with a vertical slot (see the slots 34a-34b and 34e-34h in FIG. 1) which divides the respective channel into two mirror symmetrical halves and serves to permit passage of the cutting edge 37a when the knife 37 is caused to sever the filler 31. The slots are normal to the direction of travel of the filler 31 and their planes are parallel to the axes 24, 26. The axis about which the cutting edge 37a of the knife 37 orbits is shown in FIG. 2, as at 36. The knife 37 resembles a sickle and is reciprocable back and forth in parallelism with the axis of the filler 31 so that it can move in and counter to the direction indicated by arrow 41 and that it moves at the exact speed of the filler when its cutting edge 37a travels in one of the slots 34a34h. The extent of reciprocation of the knife 37 in parallelism with the filler 31 is indicated by a doubleheaded arrow 39. The double-headed arrow 43 indicates the extent of movement of the cutting edge 37a in the direction of arrow 41 while the knife severs the filler 31. The means for reciprocating the knife 37 along the axis 36 are well known in the art and their construction forms no part of the present invention. Reference may be had to Pat. No. 1,176,560.

The feed for the filler 31 comprises two stationary guide members 47, 48- which are adjacent to and cooperate with the holder 8a when the latter assumes the position in FIG. 1. These guide members are provided with outwardly flaring surfaces 44, 46 which allow the cutting edge 37a to travel toward and to leave the slot 34a while the knife 37 moves in the direction of its axis 36. The members 47, 48 guide the filler 31 from above, and the feed for the filler further comprises two additional fixed guide members 49, 50 which flank the severing station. The member 50 supports and guides the filler 31 from below before the latters leading end enters the channel of a holder, and the guide member 49 supports and guides from below successive plain cigarettes 31a which are obtained in response to severing of the filler by the cutting edge 37a. It will be noted that, in this embodiment of our invention, the holders or sockets 811-811 serve to support and transport rod-shaped articles 31a along an arcuate path of infinitely small length. The main purpose of these holders is to properly support the filler 31 from below during severing, to properly guide the knife 37 while the cutting edge 37a severs the filler, and to insure proper transport of rod-shaped articles 31a into and along the left-hand guide 49.

The operation:

The main drive of the rod cigarette machine moves the belt 23 to rotate the support 16 at such a speed that the speed of movement of the uppermost holder (as viewed in FIG. 1) equals the speed of lengthwise movement of the filler 31 in the direction indicated by arrow 41. The support 16 rotates the support 1 by way of the crank drives for the holders Sa-Sh, and these crank drives insure that the orientation of the holders remains unchanged, i.e., that the channels of these holders remain in horizontal positions or, better to say, that such channels remain parallel to the filler 31. At the point where the path of the filler 31 is tangential to the path of orbiting holders 8a8h, i.e., at the severing station, the filler 31 rests on the bottom surface in the channel of the corresponding holder (i.e., on the bottom surface in the channel 29a of the holder 8a shown in FIG. 1). The rotary and axial movements of the knife 37 are synchronized with rotary movement of the support 1 so that the cutting edge 37a registers with the slot 34a of that holder 8a which is located at the severing station. The slot 34a is located in a plane which halves the range 43 when the knife 37 is located in a plane halving the range 39. The freshly obtained plain cigarette 31a then continues to move lengthwise and enters the channel of the guide 49 to be transported to storage or to a further processing station.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a second transfer mechanism which comprises four equidistant holders 151a, 151b, 1510, 151d and wherein such holders serve to transport pairs of rod-shaped articles 152 from a first conveyor 200 to a second conveyor 300 in such a way that the orientation of articles for 152 during transport by the holders remains unchanged. For example, the conveyor 200 may constitute the take-01f conveyor of a rod cigarette machine (such take-off conveyor can receive plain cigarettes from the guide member 49 of FIG. 1), and the conveyor 300 may constitute a first conveyor in a filter cigarette machine wherein the articles 152 are united with filter tips to form filter cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length. Certain parts of the transfer mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are denoted by numerals utilized in FIGS. l-2 plus 100.

The holders 151a-151d are respectively provided with suction ports 153a, 153b, 153c, 153d so that they can retain pairs of articles 152 by suction during transfer of such articles along an arcuate path having one of its ends at the station A where the holders receive pairs of articles from the conveyor 200 and its other end at the station B where the pairs of articles are taken over by the conveyor 300. The suction ports 153a of the holder 151a are in communication with a channel 154a machined into the crank pin 109a. The channel 154a communicates with a channel 156a in the crank arm or web 112a, and the channel 156a communicates with a third channel 157a in the crank pin 113a. The channel 157a communicates with a stationary ring-shaped suction chamber 158 which is adjacent to one axial end of the support 116. The channels 154a, 156a, 157a constitute a composite passage which connects the suction ports 153a with the suction chamber 158. The latter is connected with a pump, blower, fan or other suitable suction generating means (not shown) by a suction pipe 159. Some of the channels which connect the chamber 158 with the suction ports 153b-153d of the holders 151b-151d are shown in FIG. 4 and are denoted by reference numerals similar to those denoting the channels for the suction ports 153a of the holder 151a. The suction chamber 158 extends along an arc of 270' degrees from the transfer station A to the transfer station B.

The conveyor 300 comprises a suction drum 161 which is provided with axially parallel peripheral flutes 162 communicating with radially extending suction ports 163 which in turn communicate with axially parallel suction channels 164 machined into the drum 161. The channels 164 are connected with a suction generating device, not shown, preferably to the suction generating device which evacuates air from the chamber 158. The front faces of the holders 151a-151d are located in a plane which is normal to the axis of rotation of the support 101 and is tangential to the peripheral surface 167 of the drum 161. FIG. 4 shows the front faces 166a, 166a of the holders 151a, 1516. The angular distance between the centers of successive flutes 162 in the peripheral surface 167 of the drum 161 is the same as the angular distance between the holders 151a-151d.

The manner in which the suction chamber 158 is caused to remain in sealing engagement with the adjoining axial end of the support 116 is shown in FIG. 4. The chamber 158 has ring 168 which is adjacent to a concentric ring 171 affixed to the frame member 121 by screws or other suitable fasteners. The rings 168, 171 are coupled to each other by axially parallel dowel pins 172 and are biased apart by helical springs 173 which react against the ring 171 and thereby bias the open side of the suction chamber 158 against the revolving support 116.

The conveyor 200 comprises an endless perforated belt 176 which is trained over pulleys 174 (only one shown) and whose upper stretch is adjacent to the upper side of a stationary suction chamber 178. The latter is connected with a suction generating device (not shown) by a pipe 177. The upper stretch of the belt 176 receives rod-shaped articles 152 (e.g., plain cigarettes) from the cutoff of a rod cigarette machine and holds such articles by suction during transport toward the station A. The direction in which the support 101 is rotated in response to rotation of the support 116 is indicated in FIG. 3 by arrow 181.

The operation of the transfer apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is as follows:

The cutoff of the rod cigarette machine supplies articles 152 onto the upper switch of the belt 176 which travels in the direction indicated by arrow 182 whereby the articles form a single file and move lengthwise toward the transfer station A. The means which drives the belt 123 to rotate the shaft 118 for the support 116 derives motion from the main drive of the rod cigarette machine and causes the holders 151a151d to orbit about the axis of the support 101 at such a speed that the speed of a holder (1510 in FIG. 3) at the station A equals or slightly exceeds the speed of the belt 176. When the two foremost articles 152 reach the station A, the ports 153c of the adjoining holder 151s are in communication with the suction chamber 158 so that the foremost articles are picked up by the holder 1530 and are caused to travel along an arcuate path which extends along an arc of 270 degrees (i.e., an odd multiple of degrees). The crank drives for the holders 151a-151d insure that the orientation of articles carried by the holders from the station A toward the station B remains unchanged, i.e., that the articles carried by holders 151a- 151d remain parallel to articles on the upper stretch of the belt 176. As stated above, the rotational speed of holders 151a-151d may slightly exceed the forward speed of articles on the upper stretch of the belt 176; such difference in speeds insures better pickup of articles by the holders and slight axial separation of two articles which are picked up by a holder at the station A.

When a holder 151b (in FIG. 3) reaches the station B, the axial speed of articles held thereon is zero, and such holder then holds the articles in registry with the adjoining flute 162 of the drum 161 (see FIG. 4). The suction ports 15% of the holder 1511) then reach the end of the suction chamber 158 so that the holder ceases to attract the articles 152. Therefore, suction in the ports 163 of the adjoining flute 162 suflices to insure immediate transfer of articles into such flute and subsequent sidewise transport of articles about the axis of the drum 161. Thus, the transfer mechanism of FIGS. 3 and 4 serves to move the articles lengthwise (on the belt 176), to thereupon orbit the articles about an axis I (of the support 101) which is normal to the direction (arrow 182) of lengthwise movement of articles but without changing the orientation of articles, and to thereupon move the articles sideways (in the flutes 162). In this way, the single file of articles on the belt 176 is converted into two rows of parallel articles in the flutes 162 of the drum 161. The direction in which the drum 161 rotates is indicated by arrow 183.

It is clear that the operation of the transfer mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 can be reversed, i.e., that the conveyor 300 can supply one or more rows of articles which travel sideways to the station B, that the holders 151a 151d can transport such articles toward the station A, and that the conveyor 200 can receive a single file of articles at the station A. The holders 151a151d can transport articles along an arc of 90 degrees or along an arc of 180 degrees.

An important advantage of our transfer mechanism is that the means for preserving the orientation of holders 8a8/z or 115a-151d comprises simple crank drives which replace complicated planetary transmissions normally employed in conventional transfer mechanisms of the type to which the present invention pertains. Such crank drives can be produced, assembled, installed, adjusted and serviced at a cost which is but a fraction of the cost of a conventional planetary transmission. Furthermore, wear on the parts of our crank drives is much less damaging than the wear on parts of a planetary transmission. This has been determined during lengthy experimentation with the transfer mechanism.

In the mechanism of FIG. 1, the support 1 must be rotated at a speed which corresponds to the speed of the rod cigarette machine divided by eight (i.e., by the number of holders). The holders or sockets 8a8h of this mechanism insure highly accurate and reliable guidance and support of that portion of the filler 31 which is being severed by the knife 37, even when the rod cigarette machine is operated at a very high speed.

The mechanism of FIGS. 3 and 4 exhibits the important advantage that the articles are held by suction and that such retention of articles during transfer between the points A and B can be brought about by a relatively simple system of passages which preferably extend through the crank drives for the holders.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features which fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of our contribution to the art.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A transfer mechanism for cigarettes or like rodshaped articles, comprising holder means adapted to carry articles along a predetermined arcuate path; support means for orbiting said holder means about a first axis, said holder means being turnable with reference to said support means about a second axis which is offset from said first axis; and a crank drive for turning said holder means about said second axis to preserve the orientation of an article in said holder means While the latter orbits about said first axis.

2. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 1, further comprising second support means turnably supporting said crank drive.

3. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 2, wherein said second support means is rotatable about a third axis which is parallel to said first axis.

4. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 3, wherein said crank drive comprises a first portion rotatable with reference to said second support means about a fourth axis and a second portion affixed to said holder means and turnable about said second axis, said second and fourth axes being parallel to said first axis.

5. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 4, wherein the distance between said fourth and second axes equals the distance between said third and first axes.

6. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 2, further comprising means for rotating at least one of said support means about the respective axis.

7. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 6, wherein said crank drive is arranged to rotate the other support means in response to rotation of said one support means.

8. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of additional holder means mounted on said support means for rotation about additional second axes and an additional crank drive for each of said additional holder means, said second axes being parallel to and located at the same distance from said first axis and being equidistant from each other.

9. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 1, wherein said holder means constitutes a socket and further comprising a feed for supplying the leading end of a wrapped continuous filler of fibrous material into said socket in a predetermined angular position of said support means, and knife means for severing that portion of the filler which is accommodated in said socket so that the thus severed portion constitutes a rod-shaped article.

10. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 9, wherein said feed is arranged to move the filler lengthwise at a predetermined speed and further comprising means for rotating said support means about said first axis so that the speed of said socket in said predetermined angular position of the support means equals said predetermined speed.

11. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 9, wherein said feed comprises stationary guide means for the filler, said socket being adjacent to said guide means in said predetermined position of said support means.

12. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 1, further comprising first conveyor means for feeding rodshaped articles into said holder means in a first angular position of said support means when said holder means is located at one end of said path, and second conveyor means for receiving articles from said holder means in a second angular position of said support means when said holder means is located at the other end of said path.

13. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 12, wherein one of said conveyor means is arranged to transport the articles lengthwise and the other of said conveyor means is arranged to transport the articles sideways.

14. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 12, further comprising means for rotating said support means at a predetermined speed, said first conveyor means being arranged to transport the articles lengthwise at a speed which at most equals the speed of said holder means in the first angular position of said support means.

15. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 14, wherein said second conveyor means is arranged to transport the articles sideways.

16. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 1, wherein the length of said path is a whole multiple of degrees.

17. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 1, wherein said holder means is provided with means for retaining the articles by suction.

18. A transfer mechanism as defined in claim 1, wherein said crank drive comprises a first crank pin mounted in said support means for rotation about said second axis and rigid with said holder means, a crank arm rigid with said first crank pin and a second crank pin rigid with said crank arm and parallel to said first crank pin, and further comprising second support means rotatable about a third axis, said second crank pin being mounted in said second support means for rotation about a fourth axis which is parallel to said first, second and third axes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,026,989 3/1962 Schaltegger 19825 JAMES M. MEISTER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

